BitchTapes: Dancin' With Myself

Billy Idol was right: solo dance parties are the jam, and we all know it! So here is a mix of tunes that always get my feet movin' and my hips shakin'. Work it!

1. "Ca. Viewing" by Erase Errata: Erase Errata are an all-lady group from San Francisco whose plucky poppy punk often contains the subtlest of political, heteronormative and feminist commentary. Bonus: they're on Kill Rock Stars, who just happen to be our new SXSW BFFs.

2. "Isn't It Midnight" by Fleetwood Mac: I swear that "Tango In The Night" is the most underrated FM album ever and somehow slips through the cracks when it comes to defining epic albums of the 1980s. Also filed under "underrated" should be the smooth and sultry Christine McVie, who lends her steez and songwriting prowess to this track. I must admit something; I am seeing Fleetwood Mac live in May for the second time and McVie will not be there, which is a bummer. This is one of my favorite songs of hers and hopefully someday she'll get the credit she deserves for thrusting Fleetwood Mac into superstardom.

3. "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" by En Vogue: If I'm not mistaken, our own Danny Hayes and his roommate rocked some En Vogue last week at the Buzz issue release party, but it wasn't this gem. This song gets me every single time. You're damn right it's "time for the break down".

4. "Alphabet Pony" by The Kills: I do not claim to understand what an alphabet pony is, but if VV and Hotel say it's a thing, then it's a thing. The Kills became huge last year with the release of their third full-length "Midnight Boom" and this was my instant favorite song. With lines like "pink plastic Jesus on the dashboard" and "I've been running on the no-tomorrow road at great speeds", "Alphabet Pony" sort of makes me feel like I'm in some psychedelic amusement park riding a teeter-totter.

5. "Helicopter (Weird Science Remix)" by Bloc Party with Peaches: Do I really need to describe why this song makes me want to boogie? It's Bloc Party remixed by Peaches. Enough said, right?

6. "Natural's Not In It" by Gang of Four (the Ladytron Remodel): Gang of Four is a classic New Wave group from Leeds, England who blended post-punk sounds with their political ideals in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Ladytron took what was an already danceable track and coerced a little more funkiness out of it by infusing modern electronica into it.

7. "What's Mine Is Yours" by Sleater-Kinney: When Sleater-Kinney released their final album "The Woods", it was not anything like their previous albums. Singer Corin Tucker's trademark vibrato shakes your soul on "What's Mine Is Yours". Combined with bluesy riffs from guitarist Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss' drumming that gives you the shivers it's so intense and on point, this track is one of my favorite Sleater-Kinney songs of all time. Best line: "Your desks are too heavy and your walls are too white, your rules are all wrong and it's either run or fight". Can I get a witness?

8. "Apples In The Trees" by Mirah: Mirah is wonderful, end of story. Not only did she help us out at a benefit show in January, but this month she lent her voice to a fund raiser for Portland independent bookstore Reading Frenzy (as did Sleater-Kinney's Corin and Carrie). "Apples In The Trees" is a call to live in the present, do what you can do to benefit the world you live in now, a request for us all to take what we deserve because it's out there. Plus she has one of the best voices and some of the best lyrics of our generation, in my opinion.

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